Summary of scope data transfer rates

[onrb]

I need a 250MHz-1GHz BW scope to transfer at least 20 (2000pt waveforms) per second across GPIB/USB/or Ethernet using Labview as the controller.

I'm currently using a TDS744A and it is doing approximately 1-2 waveforms per second (much too slow).

Any recommendations for better scopes for this application? Does anyone have a data transfer rate summary for LeCroy and Tektronix scopes?

I would like to have both a low end and high end option which meets the transfer rate requirements to choose from.

Thanks

Richard Burton

ON Semiconductor

richard.burton@onsemi.com

[Dennis_Knutson]

duplicate post and posted to the wrong board.

[DFGray]

Have you considered National Instruments' digital oscilloscopes?  The 5152, 5153, or 5154 would easily meet your bandwidth needs.  However, they do not use GPIB, USB, or Ethernet, but plug directly into your computer.  This results in data transfers much faster than any of these busses.  40kBytes/sec, your rate, is a low transfer rate for these scopes.  I managed 20MBytes/sec with a much older version (5112 on a 650MHz Pentium III) many years ago.  Disk storage should be disk limited (30MBytes/sec to 60MBytes/sec, assuming reasonably new hardware).

Full Disclosure:  I am a National Instruments employee who used to write LabVIEW application software for NI-SCOPE devices.

[alanjb]

Hi Richard,

Alan from LeCroy Tech Support here... 

The answer is yes - the Waverunner Xi series can transfer about 24 waveforms/sec when the scope is set to a 2500point acquisition in "RealTime" mode (which is the standard operating mode)

You can transfer a far higher rate using "Sequence Mode".   In this mode, the scope saves multiple triggers to memory with extremely low deadtime.  I find that I can transfer, for example, about 14 sequence mode acquisitions per second, with each acquisition including 10 triggers of 2500 points each, whic amounts to 140 triggers per second transferred.

The best mode to use will depend on your application.  For example, if you are planning on averaging waveforms or performing some other analysis, you can do that on the scope and save alot of time.  Or, if you want to save the waveforms on the scope, you can save about 30 waveforms/sec in RealTime mode.

Please give me a call at 800-553-2769 for more discussion! 

Best Regards,

Alan